1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to planographic printing plates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, methods have been proposed to utilize a laser beam to image a planographic (offset) or raised-image (letter press) printing plate, see for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,506,779 granted Apr. 14, 1970 (Brown et al) "Laser Beam Type setter" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,737 granted May 23, 1972 (Lipp) "Printing Plate Recording by Direct Exposure". While the laser offers great promise in producing high resolution printing plates, there has thus far been limitations which have prevented success. In those systems which operate by removing material to form an image, the speed of production is slower than that achieved with conventional chemical etching. It has been proposed in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,737 to directly image a photosensitive medium with a laser beam which emits light in the ultraviolet region. The disadvantage of such lasers is, however, that they are presently very expensive and do not have a high power output.
It is therefore an object of this invention to improve the production of high quality printing plates by the use of a laser.